Our account was defaulted last year, only found out when a loan application had been excepted and later rejected, made a phone call to the halifax and kicked up a fuss and they removed it. Don't know how long it was on our file possiblly months? If they can put a default on your CRF electronically would they have to provide this info with our S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) ? all they have given us is copy of statements!!! would we be best going for return of all charges that created this first ? and compensation later?How did you arrive at the £750. figure for your claim? Sorry for all the ?s but really interesting and relevant issue to us. Steve

Yes your right i've read a lot of posts,but I never mentioned man inter in my data request I asked for all information held: electronic,written,recordings notes and any sundrie information relating to this acc.I was hoping to get the evidence of the crf put on me and then withdrawn after the fuss I made.This did have an impact on me having to take out a loan at a higher rate than I could have got from my other bank who offered me a good rate loan for a new car and then withdrew the exceptance of same 1 month later following the CRF halifax put on my credit file.Defamation of character,unfair banking practice,fitness to hold a credit licence,you get my drift. I am really prepared to go the whole nine yards with this,won't be happy with just punitive charges back so all help I can get from our forum buddys will be very welcome. cheeers. Steve

Thanks for replys Iwas really trying to ask about what they can retain following the data request,Iknow the Halifax put a default on my crf about 18 mths ago and removed it when I kicked up a fuss,this was before I found out about this great site.I was expecting all the info on this account because I feel like taking them to the cleaners, like they have taken us all for years. Steve

How true is this? Received response for list of transactions and charges and Halifax have quoted "With regard to your request for information relating to manual intervention on your account, HBOS plc is under no statutory obligation to record this information and therefore, I am unable to assist further with your request." How do we respond to this? Any assistance on this would be greatly appreciated Classmate

Hi Guys Havent posted for a while. Been gleaning as much info from forum as possible. Seems we are missing something with our case? Here's where we are up to. Sorry it's such a lot of info. Appreciate any feedback. Here we go - Our first letter to Halifax: Mr. Andrew Hornby Chief Executive xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Halifax PLC xxxxxxxxxx Trinity Road xxxxxxxxxx HX1 2RG xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx 11th October 2006 Dear Sir Re: Sort code: xxxxxxx Account number: xxxxxxxxxxxx We have held the above current account with your bank for over ten years. During this time we have incurred charges for exceeding our overdraft limit due to cheques being cleared with insufficient funds in the account at unfortunate times, unauthorized overdraft fees, direct debits being dishonoured (and in some cases honored) due to insufficient funds. It is our opinion, and that of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), that these charges are punitive in nature, not a genuine pre-estimate of cost and not intended to re-imburse your losses for a breach of contract occurring. Further to the 1999 Consumer Credit Regulations quoted by the OFT, there are numerous cases in law that prove that punitive charges in contracts are unenforceable at English law. There are many cases of this type far too many to list here. It is with the above in mind that we have decided to formally place the handling of this account in dispute. We have been made aware that we are required to make a payment into our account to cover an outstanding balance which has been accrued by the imposition of punitive charges otherwise a default notice will be issued. We are making you aware that we will not be making this deposit and that as the amount owed is being disputed, you are requested not to pass on any information to credit reference agencies which could be in breach of The Banking Code; section 13.6 "We may give information to credit reference agencies about the personal debts you owe us if: the amount owed is not in dispute until this situation has been resolved. It is also our intention to pursue this dispute with the Financial Ombudsman Services and the Financial Services Authority. Since being informed of this default notice and the disrespect of some of your staff afforded us in phone conversations, we have taken further advice from statuary bodies and others and with this in mind we are formally requesting the following information. As a signatory to the Data Protection Act, you will be aware that we can make an application at any time for any and all records held by your organization which refer to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx held on computer or by any other means. We hereby invoke that right, and request that within 40 days you provide all information that you hold, including but not limited to, details of accounts, full detailed lists of transactions, statements, breakdowns of charges and any sundry notes that may be held with relation to telephone conversations, meetings or correspondence. As you are no doubt aware, the office of the Information Commissioner allows for the payment of £10 covering any expenses required in fulfilling this request. We have therefore enclosed a cheque so that this transaction can take place in order to expedite a resolution to this dispute. However, you are afforded 40 days to comply with this request or you must request an extension from the Information Commissioner. If you are of any doubt that the Data Protection Act covers this information, may we respectfully draw your attention to the case of Smith v Lloyds TSB in February 2005, where the judge ruled that bank statement information is indeed personal information and thus covered. In any event, this information is requested with a view to possible legal action being taken on our part and therefore would be covered under the same act. This letter has been delivered by recorded delivery for the purpose of date stamping when the 40 days started for any legal action that may follow. Please forward the information requested to our address given above. Yours Faithfully CC: Matthew Ball (Senior Collections Manager) Branch Manager Their Response: .,i.( i-i- Halifax Plc Customer Relations Our reference Roll Number: Dear Mr and Mrs xxxxxxxxx Thank you for your recent letter. I am sure you will appreciate like other organisations we incur costs for every transaction made. When we pay an item against an unauthorised overdraft or return an item unpaid, we incur extra costs regardless of the shortfall involved. We believe it is fair to pass these costs on to the accounts affected, as opposed to them being absorbed by other customers. Our charging policy is clearly outlined in the terms and conditions that apply to your account. In addition, we are committed to complying with the Banking Code, which sets standards of good banking practice. The terms and conditions of your account state that you must have funds in your account to cover your transactions. We cannot be responsible if you authorise payments against funds that are not available. We are keen to help you avoid any unnecessary charges by providing various ways to keep track of your account. You can do this using telephone banking on 0845720 30 40, on-line banking (Halifax Online - UK Banks, Finance, Telephone & Internet Banking or Bank Of Scotland - Home -) or mini statements at cash machines. You can also contact one of our banking advisers at any of our branches. Ultimately it is your responsibility to manage your account. As a gesture of goodwill I would like to offer you £650.00 in full and final settlement of your complaint. I must stress that future charges will stand and we reserve the right to close your account if you do not manage it correctly. To accept my offer please sign and return the enclosed acceptance form in the pre-paid envelope. Turning to your request for an exhaustive list of charges. While I accept it is your legal right to apply formally for all the records we hold on you this would include a large amount of information, which is not relevant to your complaint. There is also normally a £10 charge for this service. However to help you I enclose a list of your bank charges for the last six years, free of charge. Our Data Subject access department are dealing with your request for other information that you have requested. I am very concerned to learn from your letter of the problems you have encountered because of the unacceptable service you have received on the phone. As an organisation we place great emphasis on providing a high standard of customer service and I regret that this has not been your experience. In your letter you say that you would like us to remove the default registered on your credit reference file (CRF) in respect of the charges applied. Kindly note that we do not register information on your CRF regarding charges and I am happy to inform you that no such information has been registered in this respect. If you remain unhappy with this response, and you are able to provide evidence that information was registered on your CRF then please provide evidence and I will arrange for this to be investigated. I know this won’t be the response you were hoping for, to comply with legislation, I would like to let you know that if you remain unhappy you can refer your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service. They can be contacted by telephone on 0845 080 1800, or by post at: Yours sincerely Gurvinder Gill 08457 253519 Customer Relations Enc. Acceptance Form, Pre-Paid Envelope, Your Complaint and the Ombudsman Our reply to them: . 2nd November 2006 Halifax Plc Customer Relations PO Box 548 Leeds LS1 1WU Re: Account number xxxxxxxxx Your Ref xxxxxxxxx Response to settlement offer. Dear Gurvinder Gill Thank you for your letter dated 16th October 2006 We respectfully decline your offer of settlement and request that you return to me all charges imposed on this account. We will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that we will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a County Court claim if necessary. We are in receipt of a preliminary list of charges totalling £1846.00, but at this time we are still awaiting the compliance with our formal request for you to “provide all information that you hold, including but not limited to details of accounts, full detailed lists of transactions, statements, breakdowns of charges and any sundry notes that may be held with relation to telephone conversations, meetings or correspondence held on computer or by any other means.” on receipt of which would confirm or otherwise that this total is an accurate and true reflection of charges imposed. In regards to there normally being a £10 charge for this service, we would like to point out that this payment was included in the letter dated 11th October and addressed to Mr Andrew Hornby, Chief Executive Halifax Plc, Trinity Road, HX1 2RG. We note from your letter that your Data Subject access department are dealing with our request and would like to draw your attention to the time frame allowed for compliance (40 days from receipt of request). We would also like to point out that your inference that our request for all information is not relevant to our complaint would appear to be at odds with the reply we received from the branch Co Manager Liz Rice who wrote “I understand that the complaint is due to charges being applied to your account “ We will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that we will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a County Court claim if necessary. Our letter sent previously indicates that you have until 20th November 2006 to respond before any possible Court action commences. You are reminded that there will be no extension to this timescale. We trust this clarifies our position. Yours faithfully xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Whilst waiting for a response we received this: Blair, Oliver and Scott LIMITED; Telephone: 0870 240 5138 Our Ref: xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx 31 October 2006 Dear Sir/Madam, Halifax Account Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBalance: f506.23Dr We are a professional Debt Collection Agency instructed by our above client to obtain payment of the balance owed by you. You will appreciate that our client requires payment of the full balance outstanding as soon as possible. What Action is Required by You (1) Make Payment in full to the account. Payment can be made by using a credit or debit card by contacting our Helpline or by sending a cheque or postal order to our address quoting the above reference number. or (2) Contact this office with repayment proposals quoting our above reference number. Our hours of business are 8.3Oam to 7.3Opm Monday to Friday and 8.3Oam to l2.3Opm on Saturday. What will happen if you do not take the above action (1) We may instruct one of our local door to door agents to call on you to discuss the matter further. and/or (2) We may commence legal action against you. Yours faithfully, J. Smyth, Manager, Litigation. Po(m No 10o710 And then 9th November: HALl FAX CR FF Halifax Plc Your Ref: xxxxxxxxxxxx Customer Relations PC Box 548 9th November 2006 Leeds LS1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx Telephone: 08457 253519 xxxxxxxxxx Fax: 0845 1281385 xxxxxxxxxxx Our reference xxxxxxxxxDear Mr & Mrs xxxxxxxxx Thank you for your recent letter. As a gesture of goodwill we offered you £650.00, which you do not wish to accept. I confirm that we will not refund all the charges you have incurred on your account since opening your account. I must also stress that future charges wi!l stand and we reserve the right to close your account if you do not manage it correctly. If you remain unhappy you can refer your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service as outlined in our previous letter I ‘d like to remind you, if you wish to refer the matter to the Ombudsman then you must do so within 6 months of the date of our previous letter. Yours sincerely Helen Martin Review Manager Customer Relations Halifax plc. Registered Office: Trinity Road, Halifax West Yorkshire HX1 2RG Registered in England No 2367076 Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Still no response to the data protection request but the clock's ticking. Will update regularly in future:confused:

Hi All This is the response to our first letter requiring all data etc .,i.( i-i- Halifax Plc Customer Relations Our reference Roll Number: Dear Mr and Mrs xxxxxxxxx Thank you for your recent letter. I am sure you will appreciate like other organisations we incur costs for every transaction made. When we pay an item against an unauthorised overdraft or return an item unpaid, we incur extra costs regardless of the shortfall involved. We believe it is fair to pass these costs on to the accounts affected, as opposed to them being absorbed by other customers. Our charging policy is clearly outlined in the terms and conditions that apply to your account. In addition, we are committed to complying with the Banking Code, which sets standards of good banking practice. The terms and conditions of your account state that you must have funds in your account to cover your transactions. We cannot be responsible if you authorise payments against funds that are not available. We are keen to help you avoid any unnecessary charges by providing various ways to keep track of your account. You can do this using telephone banking on 0845720 30 40, on-line banking (www.halifax.co.uk or Bank Of Scotland - Home -) or mini statements at cash machines. You can also contact one of our banking advisers at any of our branches. Ultimately it is your responsibility to manage your account. As a gesture of goodwill I would like to offer you £650.00 in full and final settlement of your complaint. I must stress that future charges will stand and we reserve the right to close your account if you do not manage it correctly. To accept my offer please sign and return the enclosed acceptance form in the pre-paid envelope. Turning to your request for an exhaustive list of charges. While I accept it is your legal right to apply formally for all the records we hold on you this would include a large amount of information, which is not relevant to your complaint. There is also normally a £10 charge for this service. However to help you I enclose a list of your bank charges for the last six years, free of charge. Our Data Subject access department are dealing with your request for other information that you have requested. I am very concerned to learn from your letter of the problems you have encountered because of the unacceptable service you have received on the phone. As an organisation we place great emphasis on providing a high standard of customer service and I regret that this has not been your experience. In your letter you say that you would like us to remove the default registered on your credit reference file (CRF) in respect of the charges applied. Kindly note that we do not register information on your CRF regarding charges and I am happy to inform you that no such information has been registered in this respect. If you remain unhappy with this response, and you are able to provide evidence that information was registered on your CRF then please provide evidence and I will arrange for this to be investigated. I know this won’t be the response you were hoping for, to comply with legislation, I would like to let you know that if you remain unhappy you can refer your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service. They can be contacted by telephone on 0845 080 1800, or by post at: Yours sincerely Gurvinder Gill 08457 253519 Customer Relations Enc. Acceptance Form, Pre-Paid Envelope, Your Complaint and the Ombudsman Still waiting for the data protection statements etc but the list of charges they have sent is a one line list going back to 2001 and totalling £1846.00. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Classmate

Hi to all again Thanks for your positive posts. Still a little bit unsure of how to respond. Will copy of our letter under Halifax section. Would appreciate any comments.

Hi All Have finally bit the bullet and sent our first letter requesting all data etc. Received a goodwill gesture offer of £650 with a list of charges going back to 2001 totalling £1800+. They claim the request for all info is not relevant to our complaint Not too sure whether to accept this or take it further. Any feedback would be great. Brilliant site. Very helpful. Our thanks to all